Apple should focus on AP circle for iPhone sales growth: CMR

The research firm added that Maharashtra, excluding Mumbai, and Gujarat circles already contribute more than 15% each to iPhone sales in India, mainly fueled by cities such as Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara.

NEW DELHI: The Andhra Pradesh circle should be on the priority list for Apple to sell iPhones, besides making Hyderbad the prime location for setting up its first technology development centre that will run the maps division, according to a research firm,

According to Cybermedia Research’s insights, the Andhra Pradesh telecom circle which includes the states of present Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, that make up 7% of the country’s subscriber share of the total 774 million GSM subscriber base, as per COAI March 31, 2016, data, should be a strong focus area for the Cupertino-based smartphone maker.

“Andhra Pradesh is already contributing nearly 10% to the iPhone sales and has the requisite socio-economic profile for further growth of the iPhone market,” CMR-MXpresso Mobilytiks said, revealing more insights into iPhone sales potential in the country. Sales in the circle are catalyzed by the tech-savvy IT workforce that has close affinity to a phone like iPhone.

India has 22 circles, in some of the circles more than one state comprises a circle.

Among the top 10 telecom circles by subscriber base, Maharashtra, excluding Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat have significant user base where the socio-economic profile of the population is favorable for a premium segment smartphone like iPhone. This means that quite a few people in these areas would have the purchase power to buy high-end phones including iPhone, which begins selling new models at upwards of Rs 50,000-Rs 60,000.

The research firm added that Maharashtra, excluding Mumbai, and Gujarat circles already contribute more than 15% each to iPhone sales in India, mainly fueled by cities such as Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara.

Rest of the circles in the top 10, that include Uttar Pradesh East and West circles, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan contribute between 1-5% to iPhone sales.

Jio’s Rs 2,399 annual plan offers 2GB per day data that costs effectively Rs 200 per month. It also offers unlimited voice and SMS. Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s Rs 2398 and Rs 2399 annual plans, on the other hand, offer 1.5GB per day data along with unlimited voice and SMS